What’s an oligarchy?

Watching the PBS NewsHour last night, I was struck by an exchange between Geoff Bennett and Elissa Slotkin, Democratic senator from Michigan. Slotkin has repeatedly said that the Democratic Party needs to get “alpha energy” and fight against the perception that the party is (cheesy alliteration alert) “weak and woke.” There’s plenty wrong with the Democratic Party right now, but I can’t agree that there’s something wrong with compassion and an alertness to injustice. Slotkin also insisted that Democrats need to stop talking about oligarchy:

Bennett: You have also critiqued the party’s tone and messaging, and you say that Democrats should stop referring to the Trump administration as an oligarchy. Senator Bernie Sanders had something to say about that. Take a listen.

Sanders (on tape): I think the American people are not quite as dumb as Ms. Slotkin thinks they are. I think they understand very well. When the top one percent owns more wealth than the bottom ninety percent, when big money interests are able to control both political parties, they are living in an oligarchy.

Bennett: What’s your response to that?

Slotkin: So my response is, I agree with everything he said, other than, my dad didn’t know what oligarchy meant. Like, he asked me what it was about. It’s not that I disagree on the concepts or on the principles, and he’s right. And that energy that he’s bringing is great. It’s just that we gotta, again, communicate to those folks who may not know what an oligarchy is like my dad.

Elissa Slotkin is a United States senator. Her father asked her about oligachy. Did she explain it to him? Or would that be too woke?

Robert Reich has explained oligarchy in three-and-a-half minutes.